Adam Everett on Villar: ‘He’s got some special ability, and I think he can do it’

On pure talent, Jonathan Villar has arguably been the Astros’ best shortstop at Class AAA Oklahoma City and the majors since opening day. Scouts I respect and have known for over a decade have said Villar is better than Marwin Gonzalez and Ronny Cedeno and every other shortstop in the Astros system not named Carlos Correa.

If Villar had been a bit more polished in terms of mental makeup, he might have already been up in the majors. At 22, though, the kid is still developing the mental and physical skills needed to succeed in the majors on a daily basis and overcome the mental grind of a 162-game season.

Villar is getting his chance now. After hitting .278 with 16 doubles, eight triples, eight home runs, 41 RBIs and 31 stolen bases over 90 games at Class AAA Oklahoma City, he was promoted to the majors.

He’s expected to report to Minute Maid Park on Monday. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the Astros’ starting lineup for the opener of the three-game series against the Oakland Athletics. You don’t call guys like Villar up unless you plan to play them consistently.

“The biggest thing when you become a major league player is the mental grind,” said Astros infield instructor Adam Everett, one of the greatest defensive shortstops in franchise history. “There’s a lot of people that have the physical ability and tools, but it’s mentally whenever you’re out here 162 games.”

“That’s not just (162) days. Then you have the off-days and figuring out how to win and winning at this level and coming to play every day and not taking a pitch off and not taking an inning off and learning how to grind it out day after day and then year after year.

“I was very fortunate to come up with (Jeff) Bagwell and (Craig) Biggio and (Brad) Ausmus, guys that could tutor you along and say, ‘This is the way you play and this is the way you got to get.’ It’s just a matter of time. The kid just turned 22. It’s not like he’s 24, 25 or 26 years old and we’re waiting on him. He’s got some special ability, and I think he can do it.”